The next Sierra snowpack reading isn’t until Monday. But a recent comment by one of California’s top political leaders is having a much larger impact on the state’s water outlook than any measurement in the snow. When state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg briefly mentioned to reporters that the $11 billion water bond set to go before voters in November would probably be pulled off the ballot, the remark reverberated with city water managers, farm leaders and environmentalists….In an interview Tuesday, Steinberg reiterated that view, saying he believes having a measure with such a large cost could harm Brown’s tax initiative….The political problem is simple: Rural lawmakers, mostly Republicans, want billions of dollars spent on construction of large dams and other concrete water projects. Liberal Democrats, many of whom live in cities and along the coast, oppose new dams and want the money spent on projects such as groundwater storage, water recycling and wetlands restoration.
Courtesy of Lee Whistler, Realtor for Century 21 M&M Clovis
